Fog

It's surprising that John Carpenter followed up Halloween with such a different tale of terror, but he did just that with 1980's The Fog. It's a urban legend-simple ghost story about a small coastal town celebrating its anniversary, forgetting that they only claimed the town because they murdered a shipful of lepers. The lepers are back and they want revenge.

The Fog has an excellent ensemble cast which is one of its strong suits and also, perhaps, one of its downfalls. There's really no major main character (even Adrienne Barbeau's Stevie Wayne - a radio DJ - disappears for large chunks of the film and never interacts with most of the other characters in the film). It's almost like if Robert Altman decided to make an ensemble horror film. Even more surprising is that Jamie Lee Curtis, Carpenter's star of Halloween, is in only about 15 to 20 minutes of the film and has no real character to speak of.

Dean Cundey's cinematography stuns and Carpenter's eerie synth score spooks, but one can't help feel that something is missing. It does lack that visceral thrill that made Halloween so special. The Fog seems content to just creep its audience out and not truly scare them. It's hard to complain, though, since The Fog does creepy better than just about any other film I can think of. It won't make you come back home and turn all the lights on before bed, but it still stays with you.

John Houseman sits around a campfire telling children about the story of a ship that went down near their home Antonio Bay and how the drowned sailors will reappear 100 years to that very night in the fog. It is a wonderful beginning to a very chilling film, directed by the modern horror meister John Carpenter. As with most of his films, Carpenter creates a scary atmosphere through moody settings(the California coastline, a lighthouse, an old Church), relentless mood music as in Halloween, good character acting(Holbrook, Houseman, Curtis, Leigh), and a claustrophobic feeling of something vice-like gripping you. The story has some plot problems, but none enough to detract from the overall enjoyment of the film. Adrienne Barbeau is as lovely as ever in the lead, and the film is credible amidst the background of supernatural actions.

John Carpenter in his prime was a true master of the genre. He reinvented the serial killer film with HALLOWEEN, and proved equally adept with the monster movie in 1982's THE THING. In between, he wrote and directed this supernatural ghost story and it shows an auteur bringing his 'A' game. Unfortunately, it falls short of being a classic - both in the horror genre and in Carpenter's oeuvre. It feels underwritten. It needs more character and plot development. It has a fantastic premise, revealed through creepy, tension building first half-hour. And then. . . Well it races to a climax. As if there's no middle. Which is fine for short attention spans, but not very rewarding. I wanted more.

The Fog is an instant horror classic from the first scene- a salty, old sailor tells a group of young children the true story of a ghostly, wrecked ship. The scene was so simple yet so thrilling that the viewer is hooked (no pun intended) for the rest of the film. The cast is great and the music sets the tone just as it did for Halloween. The best part of the film is that it made no attempt to explain everything away in a hokey horror sense (Why are the bodies returning to life?). Things happen simply because they happen. Much like Night of the Living Dead, the characters are not concerned with why they are in danger, but more concerned with getting out of danger. On a side note, John Carpenter has the best endings of any filmmaker on the market. Just as Halloween and The Thing both ended with a sense of foreboding and silent terror, The Fog ends with style and allows the viewer one final scare. A definite hit!!!

The small coastal town of Antonio Bay is celebrating its 100th year since being founded. However the residents are not aware of the tragic history of their small town and think nothing of the wider significance of the date as they prepare for a big party; they don't even put together all the strange things that start happening on the day itself. However when a small boat is lost in a dense fog that contains a mysterious ship some residents begin to suspect something more sinister than meteorology is at work.

With a remake in the cinemas and the fact that I had just returned from the coast of northern California I thought I'd revisit The Fog having not seen it for almost 15 years. Trading on the very hallmarks that made John Carpenter famous (before he couldn't buy a hit movie) The Fog is an effective chiller even if it won't scare those accustomed to more gory, modern fare. Quite short and to the point, the film makes good use of the fog to draw tension out of every scene and overcomes the potential silliness of a smoke machine working overtime behind the scenes. Instead the tension is consistent and produces a good few jumps and build ups along the way; the ghosts are kept well hidden so that the limited effects don't undermine them by totally exposing them. Carpenter uses his usual minimalist electronic score to good effect, playing it low and constant like a heartbeat.

The famous cast help the convincing atmosphere and do more than just run and scream. Barbeau leads the cast well from the solitude of her lighthouse and she helps keep the tension up with her delivery. Curtis and Leigh both have smaller roles but they add class to the film and they "do" scared well. Atkins makes for a good male lead and he gets solid help from Holbrook and a few others in supporting roles. The zombie creatures move slowly but are a good presence.

Overall this is a solid chiller from the days when Carpenter seemed to know what he was doing. The low budget effects are covered up by solid delivery and a consistently tense atmosphere which is supported by convincing performances and Carpenter's usual low, steady consistent score.